The Palace is Always Kept Cool
by BeyondTheWaves
Summary: After a particularly cold day in the kingdom, Ariel and Eric have a bath to warm up.
1. Chapter 1

**Fill for the Disney Kink Prompt "After a particularly cold day in the kingdom, Ariel and Eric have a bath to warm up". Enjoy and please review!**

The palace was always cool. During the hot summer months that seemed to drag on for years, though it was really only days, the palace being kept cool was a relief. But during the cold winter months where a bitter chill set into everyone's bones, it was more of a nuisance. Fireplaces were lit up all around the castle, each one warming up the home just a bit more. But no matter how many fireplaces there were, the palace was always cool. This was especially known and felt on those rare temperature-dropping days. During those ferociously cold days, no one dared stepped outside in anything less than their thickest winter clothes.

Unfortunately, 'no one' did not include a former mermaid

Ariel had in her mind since she turned human that she would not miss a day of snowfall. Despite the freezing weather, she was determined to spend every day outside so that she could languish in the season she'd never experienced under the sea. And today was no exception.

The redhead had lifted her skirts and walked outside, dressed in only a light day dress. Still unaccustomed to shoes, she'd forgone them completely and let her feet sink into the cold snow.

A harsh wind whipped at her hair, sending it this way and that, but the girl didn't mind. She'd wrapped her arms around her thin figure as she realized that she was starting to feel the cold, and had leisurely walked around the gardens.

She was crazy to be out here in this weather, but she'd promised herself that she'd spend as much time as she could outside during the winter, and she was sticking by that promise. By the time her husband and the rest of the servants realized that she was outside, it'd been a least a good twenty or so minutes.

When she was finally dragged back inside, the girl was shivering to no degree. Her teeth chattered loudly, and her pale skin had gone even paler. And yet, somehow her eyes seemed to be so bright and happy.

Eric had wrapped his warm, strong arms around her shaking frame, his frantic, worried sentences not being very coherent. Someone informed the young couple that a hot bath had been drawn for the queen in the master chamber, and Ariel wasn't the only person who noticed the way her husband hurriedly rushed her up to their private bathroom.

* * *

Steam wafted off of the hot tub of water, immediately filling Ariel with a sense of calm and warmth. But there was nothing more calming and warming than Eric's arms wrapped tightly around her frame, pulling her close to his body as though he never wanted to let go.

Unfortunately for the redhead though, he did let go.

"Let me help you out of your dress." Eric's firm, but somehow still worried voice echoed in the colossal bathroom. Ariel didn't even have time to think before she felt her husband swiftly and expertly untie the laces that held her dress up in the back. Now the girl was dressed only in a low cut, strapless camisole and a flowing underskirt. Her mind had just barely registered that she was now in her underwear when she heard her husband speak again.

"I'll let you take a bath in privacy." Eric said, trying as hard as he could not to let his eyes trail to the low cut camisole that revealed quite a lot of his wife's breasts. "I'll be in the study if you need me." It was hard, extremely hard, but Eric manage to tear his eyes away from her form and force himself to start walking in the direction of the door.

"Don't leave!" Ariel spoke for the first time since she'd been dragged back indoors. Her voice was desperate and melodic all at the same time. She waited until Eric turned around fully, his hand only inches away from the doorknob. One of his brows quirked upwards in a rather adorable expression of skepticism.

"Come again?" Eric asked, making sure to keep his eyes only on Ariel's eyes. God she had beautiful eyes. Beautiful, big blue eyes that could destroy every man on the planet if they wanted to.

"Can you stay with me for a little bit? I don't like being in here all alone. It...um…It kind of gives me the creeps." Shuddering a little for added effect, the girl knew that she had Eric now. He could never resist her pouts, her silly little husband. Husband. It'd been months and that word still sent a chill of happiness down Ariel's body. She mused that the day that stopped happening would be the day that she stopped loving Eric. Which would, of course, be never.

She'd had to do something. Eric was going to leave, and her heart desperately wanted to feel his warm arms encircle her again. So she'd panicked, and said the first thing that came to mind. Besides, she hated it when he went down to the study. He worked so hard to be the kind of ruler people adored, but at times he pushed himself to his very limit, which honestly scared Ariel more than anything. She would hate to see her Eric get hurt from working too hard.

"It gives you the creeps?" Eric wondered, his eyebrow still raised but his hand falling away from the doorknob. His wife of only a few months nodded eagerly, wrapping her arms around her small body as she felt a chill in the air.

"Oh yes!" Ariel answered quickly, too quickly she realized. Eric's brow went up even higher in skepticism, and he had a sinking feeling in his gut that Ariel was not exactly being truthful.

"And what exactly is it that's giving you the creeps?" Suspicion heavy in his voice, Eric almost knew immediately what Ariel was playing at. She was just trying to stall him, keep him nearer to her so that he couldn't look over some paperwork for the kingdom…and to be quite frank, he didn't really mind. He was always responsible and intelligent when it came to dealing with their kingdom…but with his redheaded wife all that melted away. His stressed out feelings vanished, and his love for her soared beyond new heights.

"Everything!" Ariel exclaimed, throwing herself into her husband's arms. She felt him stiffen in surprise a moment, before gradually wrapping his strong arms around her. This was just what she had wanted, and the girl almost smiled at the thought of it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh. I see." Eric answered quietly, biting back the chuckles in his tone. Ariel hated him to be in the study, so it was only obvious that she would try anything she could to keep him with her. But he had duties to attend to, and no amount of feminine wiles could stop that. "You're shivering. You should get into that bath before the water cools." Gently, the young king moved parts of her hair out of her face, trying to create eye contact.

"Only if you stay with me. I'm absolutely terrified to be alone." Ariel answered, her voice becoming muffled in the fabric of Eric's shirt. Ugh. His shirt. She liked him better when he was he didn't have one on; the sight of his muscular physique seemed more natural to the girl who'd grown up around bare chest mermen.

"Stay with you?" Eric repeated, torn between duty and love at the moment. "Darling, I have paperwork—" The boy cut himself off when he realized that his wife was looking up at him with that adorably pathetic pout of hers. She only used it when she really wanted to change his mind about something…and she knew that it was an effective tool at doing so. Eric groaned.

"Alright, alright. I'll stay with you." Sighing, the boy mused that he felt more like a pushover than a king.

"And you'll take off your shirt?" Ariel asked with a giggle, smiling unabashed at the boy she loved. Eric gave another sigh and nodded.

"And I'll take off my shir—wait, what?!" Before he had anytime to process what was going on, the raven haired boy felt Ariel ripping off his shirt and throwing it aside. The girl giggled as she took in his confused expression. Eric's eyes narrowed, but in a playful manner.

"Oh yeah? Well if that's how you want it…" Without hesitation Eric's hand darted towards his wife's camisole and pulled it off of her. The girl gave a laughing shriek, instinctively covering her breasts with her arms.

"Eric! That wasn't nice!" Ariel shrieked again, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. It was more instinctive than it was out of fear; she knew her husband would never hurt her. But when she caught sight of Eric laughing as though this was the funniest joke in the whole wide world, her mind formulated a quick revenge plan. Not even thinking this through all the way, the girl pulled down his pants. In retaliation, Eric pulled down her underskirt.

Now the young couple was standing there, each one of them gasping in laughter…and completely naked. Well, at least, almost completely naked. Eric was still wearing his boots, so his pants only gathered around the shoes instead of falling to the floor. Without hesitation, the boy kicked his boots off and pushed the fabric of his pants away from him. If he was going to be naked, than he might as well be completely naked.

As the laughter died away, the young marital couple looked at one another in such a way that would not be considered appropriate in public. It was a soft look, a soft loving look. Their eyes roamed one another's bodies silently, wondering how on earth they'd managed to find such a perfect person in each other. They never got the chance to do this when they made love. There was always such a fiery passion to keep moving forward, such fast paced kisses placed on each other's bodies that there was never a chance to look at one another like this. It was a perfect moment.

"You should take a bath. You must be freezing." Eric finally said, not managing to take his eyes off of his wife's body. Oh, a perfect angel could be sent to hell from the thoughts that arose in the sailor's mind as he stared at her. Her flawless skin still trembled slightly from her time outdoors, proving the wrath of the cold weather. It was the type of cold that would set into your bones and forget to leave.

"Oh!" Ariel answered, her voice a mix between a soft gasp and a intake of breath. She hadn't realized Eric was talking to her. "O-Of course…I should go…go and do that…" The redhead trailed off, stuttering a bit as she found her eyes finding every little curve and shadow in her husband's body and following it. He was…exquisite. How come she never got the chance to do this?

"Ariel?" Eric wondered aloud, before finding that he would not gain any response. With a soft sigh, it was responsible Eric to the rescue. He took a few small steps forward, and his rough, weathered sailor's hand found the small of her back and led her to the tub of hot water. Somehow he got her settled into bath, but he noticed the way she was silent and just staring at him.

"You know, staring is impolite." His deep voice rumbled from his chest with a laugh, and Ariel immediately snapped out of her daydreams. Her face flushed a shade of red that almost resembled her hair.

"Sorry!" The girl replied, turning her head quickly to the side but still managing to sneak in a side view of Eric. She noticed the way he gave her that smile. Oh, that beautiful smile. The one where his dimples showed so fully and his smile gleamed in the soft daylight that filtered in through a crack in the bathroom door. Then she noticed something odd about him; he was shaking, slightly, but still shaking. Almost as though he was…

"Eric! You're shivering!" Ariel gasped, her eyes growing wide. She immediately got to her feet in the tub, though even at this height she still wasn't nearly as tall as him. "That means you must be cold! Here, you take a bath!" Forgetting all about Eric being with her at the moment, the former mermaid nearly jumped out of the bath of hot water and onto the marble floors of the large bathroom. But her husband got her just in time.

"I'm fine, Ariel." Eric reassured with a small grin, though he was starting to feel the cold start to set into his bones as well. He'd only been outside for maybe a minute, just so he could drag his wife back in, but it had been long enough for him to feel a feeling of cold envelop him ever since.

"And besides, for reasons I'll probably never know, you were outside for a long while. You're the one that needs to take a bath." How odd it was, telling his wife she needed to take a bath, when he himself was completely naked. Eric felt himself staring at the wall behind her head, trying hard not to blush and look at her anymore than he needed too. Somehow, this is not how he'd planned his day.

"But your—"

"Perfectly fine, love." Eric answered, trying to make his tone sound reassuring. There was a moment of silence; he knew Ariel was already thinking about how she was going to reply to that. So, before she got a chance, a small though somehow slipped through his mouth. "You know…if I want you to take a bath, and you want me to take a bath…we could just take one together."


End file.
